Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 3.djvu/751

Rh SCERDILAIDAS. Jen. iii, 484, xii. 120, who in the latter passage quotes from " Scaurus de Vita sua ;" Ritschl, de vet. Plauti interpret, in his Parergon Plautin. vol. i. p. 357, &c.) [W. R.] SCEPHRUS i^Kecppos), a son of Tegeates and Maera, and brother of Leimon. When Apollo and Artemis took vengeance upon those who had ill- treated Latona, while she was wandering about in her pregnancy ; and when they came into the country of the Tegeatans, Apollo had a secret con- versation with Scephrus. Leimon, suspecting that Scephrus was plotting against him, slew his brother, and Artemis punished the murderer by sudden death. Tegeates and Maera immediately offered up sacrifices to Apollo and Artemis ; but the country was nevertheless visited by a famine, and the god of Delphi ordered that Scephrus should be honoured with funereal solemnities. From that time, it is said, a part of the solemnities at the fes- tival of Apollo Agyieus at Tegea, was performed in honour of Scephrus, and the priestess of Artemis pursued a man as Artemis had pursued Leimon. (Pans. viii. 53. § 1.) [L. S.] SCERDILAIDAS, or SCERDILAEDUS. (S/cepStAaiSas or S/cepS/'AaiSos. Concerning the various forms of the name see Sch weigh auser, ad Polyh. ii. 5. § 6. Bekker, in his recent edition of Polybius, retains the form SfcepSiAuiSos.) 1 . A king of lUyria, who was in all probability a son of Pleuratus, and younger brother of Agron, both of them kings of that country (see Schweigh- aiiser, I. c). He is first mentioned shortly after the death of Agron, as commanding a force sent by Teuta, the widow of that monarch, against Epeirus, B. c. 230. He advanced through the passes of Atintania, defeated an army which the Epeirots opposed to him, and penetrated as far as Phoenice, when he was recalled by Teuta to oppose the Dar- danians (Polyb. ii. 5, 6). At this time he ^vas clearly in a private station, and the period at which he assumed the sovereignty is uncertain ; but it seems probable that, after the defeat and abdication of Teuta (b. c. 229), Scerdilai'das succeeded to a portion of her dominions, though at first without the title of king, which he probably did not assume till after the death of his nephew Pinnes, on whom the Romans had bestowed the sovereignty, under the guardianship of Demetrius of Pharos (see Schweighauser, ad Polyb. I. c). In B. c. 220 we find him joining with Demetrius in a predatory ex- pedition against the Achaeans, and concluding a treaty with the Aetolians against that people : but he quickly became dissatisfied with the conduct of his new allies, and was, in consequence, induced by Philip to change sides, and conclude an alliance with the Macedonian monarch (Polyb. iv. 16, 29). In the spring of 218 he sent a small squadron to the support of Philip, but he appears to have ren- dered him little efficient assistance, either on that or any subsequent occasion during the war. Not- withstanding this he claimed from the Macedonian king his promised share of the booty, and conceiv- ing himself aggrieved in this respect, in the follow- ing year (b. c. 217) he turned his arms against Philip, captured by treachery some of his ships, and made an inroad into Macedonia itself, where he made himself master of some of the frontier towns. Philip, who was at this time in the Pelo- ponnese, hastened to the relief of his own domi- nions, and having quickly recovered the places he had lost, occupied himself during the winter in the SCIPIO. 739 equipment of a powerful fleet, to carry on operations against the lUyrian king. Scerdilai'das, alarmed at these tidings, applied for assistance to the Romans, who were favourably disposed towards him from jealousy of Philip, but were too hard pressed at home to furnish him any effectual succour. They, however, in the summer of b. c. 216, sent a squa- dron of ten ships to his support, and the very name of a Roman fleet struck such a terror into Philip that he abandoned the Adriatic, and retired, with his whole fleet, to Cephallenia (Polyb. v. 3, Q5^ 101, 108,110). But during the following years his Roman allies were able to give little assistance to the Illyrian king, and Philip wrested from him the important fortress of Lissus, as well as a con- siderable part of his dominions. In b. c. 211 Scer- dilai'das joined the alliance of the Aetolians with the Romans, but his part in the war which fol- lowed appears to have been confined to threatening and infesting the Macedonian frontiers by occasional predatory incursions (Liv. xxvi. 24, xxvii. 30, xxviii. 5 ; Polyb. x. 41). It would appear that he must have died before the peace of 204, as his name, which is coupled with that of his son Pleu- ratus, during the negotiations in b. c. 208, does not appear in the treaty concluded by P. Sempronius with the Macedonian king (see Liv. xxvii. 30, xxix. 12). He left a son, Pleuratus, who suc- ceeded him on the throne. 2. A son of Gentius, king of Illyria, who was taken prisoner and carried captive to Rome, toge- ther with his father and his brother Pleuratus. (Liv. xliv. 32.) [E. H. B.] SCEVFNUS, FLA'VIUS. [Scaevinus.] SCHE'DIUS (Sxe'Stos). 1. A son of Iphitus by Hippolyte, commanded the Phocians in the war against Troy, along with his brother Epistrophus. (Hom. //. ii. 517, &c.) Apollodorus (iii. 10. § 8) calls Epistrophus the father of Schedius. He was slain by Hector {II. xvii. 306, &c. ; Pans. x. 4. § 1), and his remains were carried from Troy to Anticyra in Phocis. He was represented in the Lesche at Delphi. (Pans. x. 30. § 2, 36, in fin.) 2. A son of Perimedes, likewise a Phocian who was killed at Troy by Hector. (Hom. //. xv. 515; comp. Strab. ix. p. 424.) [L. S.] SCHOENEUS ijS.xoiviis), a son of Athamas and Themisto, was king in Boeotia and father of Atalante and Clymenus (ApoUod. i. 8. § 2, 9. § 2, iii. 9. § 2). The town of Schoenus is said to have derived its name from him. (Pans. viii. 35. § 8; Steph. Byz. s. v.) Another personage of this name occurs in Anton. Lib. 10. [L. S.] SCI'PIO, the name of an illustrious patrician family of the Cornelia gens. This name, which signifies a stick or staff, is said to have been ori- ginally given to a Cornelius, because he served as a staff in directing his blind father {patrem pro baculo regebai)^ and to have been handed down by him as a family name to his descendants (Macrob. Sat. i. 6). This family produced some of the greatest men in Rome, and to them she was more indebted than to any others for the empire of the world. The Scipios, like many other Roman families, possessed a burial-place in which all the members of the family were interred (Cic. Ttisc. i. 7). This family-tomb, which was near the Porta Capena, was discovered in 1780, and is one of the most interesting remains of the republican period. It was discovered on the left of the Appia Via, about 400 paces within the modern Porta S Se- 3b 2